Both Peter and Paul have transfigurative name changes. Peter starts out as Simon and Paul starts out as Saul. Transfigurative moments and transfigurative name changes are common in all religions in which an individual is the beneficiary of some event or events that changes the perspective of the person, how the person is seen, or both.
My interest in writing about Peter and Paul in the same post is to compare and contrast two individuals who, in my opinion, represent two separate mind types but end up sharing the same perspective about Christ and the Church.
PETER
Peter is a principal character in the formation of Christianity. Peter is a depicted as a person who "gets" things before he understands what he has gotten. Peter whose original name was Simon was given the name Peter by Jesus after he responds to Jesus's question, "Who am I?" When Peter replies, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God," Jesus gives him the name Peter, the rock.[1]
Peter proves to be anything but rock solid, apart from having an apparent concrete mind. Within two verses of calling Simon, Peter, Jesus is calling him Satan. Peter can strike one as a bumbling idiot at times, but I would suggest otherwise. Peter is intuitive and more right brained than left. He gets the bigger picture, but doesn't grasp its full implication until later.
Peter grows or transforms into his transfiguration. In fact, I would say Peter has several transfigurative moments that change his perspective of things. I find it interesting that the two later gospels Matthew and John refer to Peter as Simon Peter; whereas, Mark and Luke call him Peter.
While the reason for calling Peter, Simon Peter can be explained as there being two disciples named Simon, one who is also called Simon the Zealot, the reference to Simon Peter may have to do with there being something very "Simon" about Peter. In other words, outwardly speaking, Peter's personality did not change. On the surface, he remained recognizably Simon. What changed or (perhaps more accurately put) what was exposed in his transfigurative name change was the depth of his faith-vision.
Peter intuitively knew that he was engaged with something larger than himself. What that meant for him would emerge over time. The Simon part of his persona (as is basically true of all surface personas) wanted to control or give the impression of being in control of the events in his life, but the reality is that his Peter persona was attuned to the flow of events that were shaping who he became.
Being named Peter by Jesus aided Peter in recognizing and accepting the transfigurative moments he encountered; such as, the Transfiguration of Jesus, his denial of Jesus at Jesus’s trial as foretold by Jesus, his witnessing Jesus's empty tomb, the Pentecost event, his trance on the roof top at Joppa.[2] All such events led Simon to probe and find the solid foundation of his integrity that made him Peter. Peter's story is very similar to Jacob's story. Both were works in progress that took time to be transfigured. Both retained their surface personas but were given a different perspective of the world around them which allowed them to embrace the journey they embodied.
PAUL
Unlike Peter, Paul impresses me as being left brained; analytical and pragmatic. Paul's transfiguration is best described as a conversion rather than a transformation. Both Peter and Paul experienced pause prior to transfiguration. In Peter's case one might be able to cite several moments of pause; such as, Jesus's rebuke of him, calling him Satan after naming him Peter, his bizarre reaction to the Transfiguration of Jesus, and his denying Jesus at Jesus's trial before the Sanhedrin.
Paul's moment of pause was much shorter and was the result of his blinding vision of Christ. Paul is both converted and transfigured in one event. His moment of pause is the literal blindness he endured after seeing the blinding light of Christ. While much of Simon remains with Peter, most of Saul is lost in Paul. What Paul retains is his sense of pragmatic integrity. Paul not only gets the bigger picture in Christianity, he understands how to make it work.
Since I have discussed much of Paul's theology in other posts, I won't go into it here. [Click here, here, and here to view them.] What Paul shares with Peter is an expansive vision of the mystic journey that all of creation is on. While Peter witnessed the metamorphosis of Jesus into the risen Christ, Paul envisioned the risen Christ as the Body of Christ in the world; the metamorphosis of us all, symbolized as the Church.[3] Peter understood Paul's vision, but lacked the ability to convince others of its relevance in the Church at Jerusalem. In some ways, Peter and those who knew the person, Jesus, could not see the full implication of Jesus's resurrection as Paul did. Having never known and having never met Jesus as another person but only experiencing him as the risen Christ freed Paul to see the much larger implication of Jesus's resurrection. Peter came to share that vision and, like Paul, became an apostle to gentiles and the legendary founder of the Church at Rome.
INTEGRITY AND FAITH
The mystic journey is in many ways a story of transfiguration into one's true or whole self; a person of faith and integrity. It appears rare to find a person who has both in equal measure. As the mystic journey is about one's transfiguration into a whole being as part of Paradise Regained, we see in these tales of well-known biblical characters that their personal faith and integrity emerge as their life stories unfold. Peter and Paul represent such emergence.
Looking from a distance of some two millennia, it would appear that Simon had a foundation of faith upon which to build, but lacked the integrity that would be found in becoming Peter. Likewise, Saul had plenty of religious integrity but lacked faith which he would discover in becoming Paul. Peter and Paul became whole beings as they transfigured into their true selves; capable of seeing the bigger picture and doing their part to broaden the perspective of us all.
Until next time, stay faithful.
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